NCL CORP. blamed its
euro-denominated debt for its $8.6 million loss in the third
quarter. The company said that due to poor exchange rates, its
third-quarter interest expense had increased 25%, to $42.6 million.
Colin Veitch, president and CEO of NCL Corp., said that despite the
loss, pricing and demand were improving in the Caribbean and
Hawaii. These improvements have contributed to our overall
fourth-quarter booking levels and ticket prices being up versus
levels achieved at the same time last year, Veitch said.
BOB DICKINSON will host
America's Vacation Center's online Travel Executive Forum on
Tuesday, Nov. 27 at 3 p.m. EST. It will be one of Dickinson's last
speaking engagements before officially retiring as president and
CEO of Carnival Cruise Lines at the end of December. AVCs online
presentations are open to the first 1,000 agents that register at
www.travelexecutiveforum.com.
CARNIVAL CORP. and a
local developer on the Honduran island of Roatan broke ground on a
joint venture cruise port on Roatan. The facility will be the
Central American countrys largest cruise port when it opens in
summer 2009. The port will be able to accommodate two post-Panamax
ships at a two-berth terminal and handle 7,000 passengers and 2,000
crew members daily. Located in Dixon Cove on the southwest coast of
the island, the 20-acre site will also have a welcome center for
tourists and a shopping area.
HOLLAND AMERICA LINE will
deploy three ships in South America in 2009, the line's largest
deployment to date in the region. HAL will offer 18 cruises ranging
from 13 to 68 days on the Statendam, the Prinsendam and the
Amsterdam, with overnight stays in several ports. Richard Meadows,
HAL's executive vice president of marketing, sales and guest
programs, said that the cruise line would "offer the most extensive
program in the region of any major cruise line."